RIP Robin Williams (1951-2014)

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Cinema Discusso > RIP Robin Williams (1951-2014)

CloseFriend: Aug 21, 2002; Un malheur ne vient jamais seul.

Man, this news is just so much to take in. Robin Williams always felt like a constant in my life. As a kid I'd want to see any comedy that had him in it; I used to love Mork & Mindy. Then as an adult, after I got diagnosed with depression, I came to love him even more for doing his part to normalize depression by openly sharing his struggles with it.

I've never been this sad about a celebrity death before. I just wish he could have really understood how much people love him and value him.

# ¿ Aug 12, 2014 03:38

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 09:18

CloseFriend: Aug 21, 2002; Un malheur ne vient jamais seul.

Arthe Xavier posted:

This makes me loving mad. I mean - sure, some people have no decency on the internet, but this is crossing a line big time. Just imagine this happening to you. Your father, who is one of the closest and most influential people in your life, who you know in a way nobody else can, is gone. You never get to see him smile again. You never get to hug him again. And you have to live with the knowledge that he took his own life, despite the close and warm relationship you two had. It literally just happened, yesterday. You can't even cope with it yet. In some ways, you haven't even realized the finality of it. And then, in the middle of all this, you get bombarded by hateful messages and photoshopped pictures of him, your most beloved person. You don't personally care that he was famous - he was your father; as normal and fragile as any man. He could have been a welder and he'd still be just that - your one and only father.

This post doesn't make a single difference to anything, but I just had to vent. drat it, random internet people, learn some empathy and respect. It doesn't only prevent you from making stupid things like this, it'll also make you a happier, more complete person in life.

I reacted the same way. Before she deleted her account, I sent a tweet to Zelda wishing her all the best in getting through this tough time. I wish she'd gotten more of those messages and less of this sociopathic poo poo. The Internet is like a giant pool that some people just constantly have to piss in. It's loving infuriating.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2014 23:45

CloseFriend: Aug 21, 2002; Un malheur ne vient jamais seul.

Speaking of his movies, how does Toys hold up? I remember watching it as a kid twice and feeling confused as gently caress; maybe it's different as an adult.

# ¿ Aug 14, 2014 05:39

CloseFriend: Aug 21, 2002; Un malheur ne vient jamais seul.

MonsieurChoc posted:

I'm rewatching Hook right now, after not having seen it for years. Maggie Smith killing it as Wendy at the start. Also, why didn't Moira go with Peter? She's Wendy's granddaughter, they're her children too, she should be part of the adventure too.

Man, Robin Williams is great.

I think the movie wanted to make the point that Moira's belief in Neverland doesn't run as deep as Peter's. Peter Banning denied his past as Peter Pan primarily because of the difficulty he felt reconciling his dimming recollections of Neverland with his life as a high-powered attorney in the mundane world. He believed so strongly that he didn't believe, if that makes any sense.

We don't really have any evidence that Moira actually believed in Neverland the way Wendy and Peter did, or that she had ever visited Neverland herself. After all, Peter met Moira right at the moment he decided to leave Neverland behind.

Thematically, I think Moira represented Peter's anchor to the real world, his motivation for forswearing eternal childhood and continuing on as Peter Banning. He said he stayed in the real world because he wanted to become a father, but his first gaze on Moira sparked that feeling in him in the first place.

Also, Peter didn't exactly go to Neverland on his own terms. Tink more-or-less press-ganged him into it without giving him time to pack.

# ¿ Aug 14, 2014 06:15

CloseFriend: Aug 21, 2002; Un malheur ne vient jamais seul.

DangerDummy! posted:

I was in the supermarket tonight, and I saw a 50ish year old woman stop in her tracks and walk over to a magazine rack. She picked up the People magazine with Robin Williams' smiling face on the cover and kind of contemplated it for a moment. She then kissed Robin's forehead, hugged the magazine to her bosom for a moment, and put it back on the rack, letting hand linger on his face for a second as she walked away.

No one else saw her do this, and she hadn't seen me watching her. She had a look of such pain on her face. I'm not sure why, but it really hit me in the gut.

Behind me, my six year old daughter was singing "fart fart fart-fart, fart fart FART-FART" to the tune of "Farmer in the Dell". It was an odd contrast.

From the way I've heard Zelda describe her dad, this sounds exactly like how he would've wanted people to remember him.

# ¿ Aug 18, 2014 06:04

CloseFriend: Aug 21, 2002; Un malheur ne vient jamais seul.

Adrianics posted:

I went for my first therapy session today. I've had my demons all my life, and as stupid and selfish as it probably sounds this whole situation convinced me that it was finally time to get some real, honest help. Just one session and it's helped immensely, so if anything positive comes of this I hope others can be persuaded to do the same.

Good on you, slugger! No sarcasm! Therapy changed my life completely. I wish I could get other people to do it� although it was pretty awkward when I found out the hard way that my therapist is also the marriage counselor for one of my students.

The only celebrity I know who's been open about seeing a therapist is John Cleese. I wish more celebrities would open up about it, since as sad as it is that America works this way, I think celebrity endorsements could help a lot of people. (I feel like the one good thing to come out of Robin Williams' death is that it's led to an increase in people taking mental illness seriously.)

# ¿ Aug 20, 2014 22:11

CloseFriend: Aug 21, 2002; Un malheur ne vient jamais seul.

Narciss posted:

I'm way late to this news, but drat this is sad. This man did more for Trans Rights and Advocacy with Mrs. Doubtfire than any other person in the last 30 years.

I've heard Mrs. Doubtfire mentioned as transphobic. I haven't seen it since childhood, but that would make an interesting debate, especially since a lot of other 90s comedies were virulently transphobic (like Ace Ventura).

I do think Mrs. Doubtfire was incredibly queer-positive for its time, though. Using actual gay actors Harvey Fierstein and Scott Capurro to play a gay couple was pretty cool, especially since at no point did the film make a big deal about their homosexuality. They were just two guys who loved and wanted to support their brother/brother-in-law. Even Robin Williams' utterance of "Uncle Frank and Aunt Jack" was refreshingly insouciant. The whole thing tied in wonderfully with Mrs. Doubtfire's overall message of support for unconventional families.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2014 00:48

CloseFriend: Aug 21, 2002; Un malheur ne vient jamais seul.

Alteisen posted:

Also while it doesn't make it right, attitudes where far different back then.

That was really what I was trying to say, that its progressiveness is actually quite surprising and commendable vis-�-vis the time of its release. It's like The Crimson Kimono, almost anachronistic in its rejection of old attitudes.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2014 05:37

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 09:18

CloseFriend: Aug 21, 2002; Un malheur ne vient jamais seul.

The point is that Robin Williams chose roles that allowed him to combat homophobia and transphobia at a time when the latter was the norm and the former was a hell of a lot more prevalent and accepted than it is now. That's an admirable stand for someone to take. Not everybody has the courage to go against the flow like that.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2014 23:47

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Cinema Discusso > RIP Robin Williams (1951-2014)